ICO raids offices believed to be making millions of nuisance calls a day

Officials seized equipment from two sites in Hove and Maidenhead which it suspected were pestering members of the public

The Information Commissioners Office has seized equipment from a call centre it suspects was making millions of nuisance phone calls every day.

Officials swooped on the premises in Hove earlier this month which it believed was using automatic dialling technology to make up to six million calls every day about debt management and payment protection insurance. A further premises in Maidenhead which is thought to host the company’s servers was also raided.

Documents and computer equipment were removed and the officers are now looking at what action to take. The ICO only has the power to issue an enforcement notice to stop the calls or issue a civil monetary penalty.

“Our intelligence has identified this address as being responsible for making millions upon millions of recorded messages,” said ICO enforcement team manager David Clancy.

“It is astounding to think this one small company has the ability to pester millions of people with unwanted calls on a huge scale.
“Thanks to this raid we have seized information that will enable us to discover where this organisation is sourcing their data and prevent them from selling it to third parties. The rules on making recorded messages are clear, and if the evidence proves the law has been broken we will act.”